Tag: Europe

The reaction to free-to-play games that monetize by the use of in-app purchases (or IAPs, for short) depends on where you ask about them. They're a normal part of the gaming culture in Asia and looked upon with skepticism but warily accepted in North America.In Europe, though, they're now under the microscope. Eurogamer.net reported this morning that the European Commission is huddling with consumer protection groups in multiple nations to get some clarification on parts of the free-to-play model it finds troubling.The Commission's concerns include protecting children from IAPs (and preventing them from bugging parents to buy for them), games that opt-in players for IAPs without their consent, free games that aren't really free, and companies that don't provide a way for players to contact them by email for customer service purposes.